THIS was one of many street parties held in Oxford to mark the end of the Second World War.

There were wild celebrations in many towns and villages on and immediately after VE (Victory in Europe) Day in May 1945.

Everyone was delighted that the Allies had finally defeated Hitler after six long years.

The picture above, taken in Southmoor Road, Oxford, comes from reader Peter Heath, of Ferny Close, Radley.

He writes: “The boy in the front looking over his shoulder is me, with my eight-year-old ‘girlfriend’, Anne James, next to me. The fair-haired girl on the right facing the camera was Pat Steadman, but I cannot remember the names of anyone else – after all, it is 66 years ago.

“It would be great to know if any of your readers recognise themselves or any friends.”

According to the Oxford Mail, hundreds of people turned out to watch bonfires in Broad Walk, High Street and at Carfax in Oxford city centre.

“About 20 exuberant youths pushed Oxford’s oldest fire engine, a horse-drawn hand pump, from New Road to Carfax, where it was taken over by the crowd. Shop windows were broken in Queen Street and Walton Street, but mostly the celebrations were good humoured.”

The event that brought the biggest cheer was a torchlight procession along High Street, Turl Street and Broad Street to the Martyrs’ Memorial, where an effigy of Hitler was burned.

There was a double celebration in Blackfriars Road, St Ebbe’s, where residents were marking not only the end of the war, but the return of prisoner of war Harold Hastings, who had been held captive for five years. He was carried shoulder-high.